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Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America

Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America

by Ijeoma Oluo

Seal Press ·2020 ·278 pages ·Culture
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About This Book

From the author of the New York Times bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race, a history of white male America and a scathing indictment of what it has cost us socially, economically, and politically After the election of Donald Trump, and the escalation of white male rage and increased hostility toward immigrants that came with him, New York Times-bestselling author Ijeoma Oluo found herself in conversation with Americans around the country, pondering one central question: How did we get here? In this ambitious survey of the last century of American history, Oluo answers that question by pinpointing white men's deliberate efforts to subvert women, people of color, and the disenfranchised. Through research, interviews, and the powerful, personal writing for which she is celebrated, Oluo investigates the backstory of America's growth, from immigrant migration to our national ethos around ingenuity, from the shaping of economic policy to the protection of sociopolitical movements that fortify male power. In the end, she shows how white men have long maintained a stranglehold on leadership and sorely undermined the pursuit of happiness for all.


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Reviews

"This rhetorical choice does not resonate as profoundly as the precise historical examples she cites, along with her personal experiences ..."

Elizabeth Greenwood· San Francisco Chronicle Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"the text is not simply a catalogue of terror; it is a conversational call to action, an urging to rewrite our definition of White manhood and diminish the power it holds."

Nneka Mcguire· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"The work remains strong throughout, as Oluo grounds her research in interviews and primary sources, while also describing the harassment her family has faced because of her writing ..."

Stephanie Sendaula· Library Journal Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Rooted in 'muscular Christianity,' this conception of manliness, she ably demonstrates, also gave us American football ..."

Brittney Cooper· The New York Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"[an] incisive treatise ..."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Oluo expertly shows how inequality, toxic masculinity and an unequal power structure deeply hurt all Americans, including white men."

Sarojini Seupersad· BookPage Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

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